Air emissions are strictly regulated to control the release of toxic materials often in MSW; toxins removed from air emissions will be transferred to waste ash, which may require disposal as hazardous waste

Costs are substantially higher than landfill in most areas

Not considered by some as a renewable energy feedstock because some of the waste materials are made using fossil fuels

Generates a tremendous amount of waste ash that likely contains a host of hazardous constituents

Coal (high rank; bituminous)11,587-12,875Not applicable

Established infrastructure

Reliable

Relatively inexpensive

Limited resource

Major source of mercury, SO2, and NOx emissions

Main source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions

Generates a tremendous amount of waste ash that likely contains a host of hazardous constituents

Oil (typical distillate)18,025-19,313Not applicable

Established infrastructure • Reliable

Limited resource

Major source of SO2 and NOx emissions

Purchased in large quantities from foreign sources

Source: Compiled from various sources by CRS and Lynn Wright, biomass consultant working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Notes: The information provided in this table are estimates for general use. Multiple factors including location, economics, and technical parameters will influence the data on a case-by-case basis. Lynn Wright, biomass consultant working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, provided the following comments: The infrastructure to handle woody resources (both forest residues and plantation grown wood) already exists in the pulp and paper industry and can be easily used for the bioenergy industry. Most woody biomass resources (whether forest residues or plantation grown wood) will be delivered as chips similar to current pulp and paper industry practices. However, new equipment and harvest techniques may allow delivery as bundles or whole trees in some situations. Wood resources such as chipped pine (softwoods) and hardwoods and urban wood residues are already being used to generate electricity using direct combustion technologies, all woody feedstocks are well suited for all thermal conversion technologies including combustion, gasification and pryolysis to generate electricity. Biopower can also be produced from the black liquor by-product of both pulp and ethanol production. Clean wood chips from willow, hybrid poplar, and other hardwoods are also very suitable for conversion to liquid fuels using biochemical conversion technologies.

b. The harvest frequency is on an annual basis unless stated otherwise. Energy yield ranges for willows, poplars, pines, switchgrass, miscanthus, sugarcane, sugarcane bagasse and sorghum were provided by Lynn Wright, biomass consultant working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Energy yields for miscanthus. and switchgrass were also discussed with Jeffrey Steiner (USDA), August 2010. Energy yields for hybrid poplar were also obtained from Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Energy from Biomass, http://www.mda.state.mn.us/renewable/renewablefuels/biomass.aspx; Energy yield for pine chips (forest residues) was obtained from calculations from data in David A. Hartman et al., Conversion Factors for the Pacific Northwest Forest Industry (Seattle, WA; Univ. of Washington, Institute of Forest Products, no date), pp. 6, 47. Energy yield for corn stover was obtained from R.L Nielsen, Questions Relative to Harvesting & Storing Corn Stover, Purdue University, AGRY-95-09, September 1995, http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/pubs/agry9509.htm. Energy yield for wheat straw was obtained from Jim Morrison, Emerson Nafziger, and Lyle Paul, Predicting Wheat Straw Yields in Northern Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007, http://cropsci.illinois.edu/research/rdc/dekalb/ publications/2007/PredictingWheatStrawYieldsFinalReportToExtensionMay2007.pdf; In general, it is assumed a dairy cow excretes 150lbs of manure/day based on the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Manure Production and Characteristics Standard D384.2, March 2005. Energy yield for municipal solid waste was calculated based on data from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste http://www.epa.gov/osw/basic-solid.htm (In 2008, U.S. residents, businesses, and institutions produced about 250 million tons of MSW, which is approximately 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day). Energy yield for miscanthus in Europe was obtained from Clifton-Brown, J.C., Stampfl, P.A., and Jones, M.B., Miscanthus Biomass Production for Energy in Europe and Its Potential Contribution to Decreasing Fossil Fuel Carbon Emissions. Global Change Biology, 10, (2004) pp. 509-518; Energy yield for siwtchgrass was obtained from McLaughlin, S.B., and Kszos, L.A., “Development of Switchgrass (panicum virgatum) as a bioenergy feedstock in the United States.” Biomass and Bioenergy 28 (2005) pp. 515-535. Energy yield for sorghum was obtained from W.L. Rooney, et al, “Designing Sorghum as a Dedicated Bioenergy Feedstock.” Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining. 1, (2007) pp.147-157; Energy yield for sugarcane/energycane obtained from http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=251543&pf=1 (a web-published abstract of a book chapter written by Bransby et. al. and submitted for publication in February 2010); Energy yield for sugarcane baggase was obtained from http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=254594&pf=1 (an abstract of a book chapter prepared by R. Viator, P. White, and E. Richard, and entitled “ Sustainable Production of Energycane for Bio-energy in the Southeastern U.S.” submitted for publication by the Sugarcane Research Unit in Houma, LA in August 2010).

c. For more information on the state of combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, and anaerobic digestion technologies, see the shaded text box on page 5.

The Renewable Fuel Standard, a mandate to ensure that domestic transportation fuel contains a specified volume of biofuels, is one reason most legislative and administrative efforts have focused on development of biofuels for transportation. For more information, see CRS Report R40155, Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): Overview and Issues, by Randy Schnepf and Brent D. Yacobucci.

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2010, DOE/EIA-0383(2010), Washington, DC, April 2010. The bulk of this increase is expected to come from growth in co-firing operations. Co-firing is the combustion of a supplementary fuel (e.g., biomass) and coal concurrently.

Executive Order 13514 defines sustainability as the creation and maintenance of conditions that allow humans and animals to exist in productive harmony, and that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations. For more information, see CRS Report R40974, Executive Order 13514: Sustainability and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction , by Richard J. Campbell and Anthony Andrews.

For more information on biomass definitions, see CRS Report R40529, Biomass: Comparison of Definitions in Legislation Through the 111th Congress, by Kelsi Bracmort and Ross W. Gorte.

Section 201 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA; P.L. 110-140) defines lifecycle emissions as follows: “(H) LIFECYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.—The term ‘lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions’ means the aggregate quantity of greenhouse gas emissions (including direct emissions and significant indirect emissions such as significant emissions from land use changes), as determined by the Administrator, related to the full fuel lifecycle, including all stages of fuel and feedstock production and distribution, from feedstock generation or extraction through the distribution and delivery and use of the finished fuel to the ultimate consumer, where the mass values for all greenhouse gases are adjusted to account for their relative global warming potential.” 42 U.S.C. §7545(o)(1). For more information on lifecycle emissions, see CRS Report R40460, Calculation of Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), by Brent D. Yacobucci and Kelsi Bracmort.

For more information on carbon neutrality of biomass energy, see CRS Report R41603, Is Biopower Carbon Neutral?, by Kelsi Bracmort.

The rule sets thresholds for GHG emissions that define when permits are required for new and existing industrial facilities. For more information on the history of the Tailoring Rule, see CRS Report R41103, Federal Agency Actions Following the Supreme Court’s Climate Change Decision: A Chronology, by Robert Meltz..

BACT is an emissions limitation that is based on the maximum degree of control that can be achieved. It is a caseby- case decision that considers energy, environmental, and economic impact. BACT can be add-on control equipment or modification of the production processes or methods. BACT may be a design, equipment, work practice, or operational standard if imposition of an emissions standard is infeasible. Environmental Protection Agency, PSD and Title V Permitting Guidance For Greenhouse Gases, November 2010.

For more information on BCAP, see CRS Report R41296, Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP): Status and Issues, by Megan Stubbs. BCAP provides financial assistance to producers or entities that deliver eligible biomass material to designated biomass conversion facilities for use as heat, power, biobased products, or biofuels.

For more information on the proposed RES in S. 1462, see CRS Report R40837, Summary and Analysis of S. 1462: American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009, As Reported, coordinated by Mark Holt and Gene Whitney.

For more information, see CRS Report R40890, Summary and Analysis of S. 1733 and Comparison with H.R. 2454: Electric Power and Natural Gas, by Stan Mark Kaplan.